Blood of Friendship
by SkullAndACupOfTea
Summary: Pre-series fic- When Bobby sends John and his boys go to investigate a case in a small Colorado town, the Winchesters may have bitten off a little more than they could chew with mysterious deaths, wild horses, and creepy classmates. The small family is in for the ride of their lives, but perhaps the will come out of this mess a little more whole than before.
1. Chapter 1: A differant Kinda Mermaid

**This is a Pre-series Fic!**

 **Hello folks! First story here! I'm rather new to the fandom so cut me slack where I mess up, also, please help me out! I don't think that I have managed to quite capture the characters of Dean and Sam so any advice will be great. Also this story will probably be face lifted and re-edited as I write it due to new ideas, insights, and my terrible grammar; so bear with me. I happen to despise when OCs take over the story and become a fix all for the plots, but I recognize the need for OCs in this fic, so please let me know if they become too much!**

 **Alrighty! Standard disclaimer! Supernatural, don't own! If I did, my life would be a hell of a lot easier. However, any characters who receive significant development do bear resemblance with real people and I have based locations off of real places! For the places, names and personal facts are changed while the overall idea remains the same. Now for the people. I based them off of dear friends and family members who have passed on. Like with places, the names and small facts are changed, but more things stay the same. Everything has been altered to fit into the world of Supernatural.**

 **For me this story is also a requiem for the people that I am immortalizing in words. I can only hope I do them justice.**

 **-Skully**

Chapter 1

The engine of the '67 Chevy Impala purred softly as the afternoon sun glinted on her black hood. Her occupants were a different story however, in the front seat a scruffy looking dark haired man with a beard sat behind the wheel, burnt out from long hours of driving, beside him in the passenger seat sat a young man on the cusp of adult hood, drumming his left hand fingers on the dashboard while he conversed on his father's cell phone to a distant man on the other end, in the backseat an early teen who had just begun to hit his growth spurt stretched his gangly legs which he hadn't quite grown into across the entirety of the backseat while his back was settled in the angle between the door and the seat back behind the front passenger seat, his head turned as he moodily observed the car's surroundings.

"– Great, thanks Bobby. Yeah, we'll update you when we got more info on the case. Yeah, yeah, I hear ya—okay bye!" The dirty blond hung up on the phone

"What did he have for you Dean, any updates on the case?" the gruff voice of the driver rumbled from the front seat.

"Nothing too new Dad, he thinks it's little mermaid graduating from singing with fish to Samara Morgan cuz the bodies have been found in various lakes, ponds, and streams rather than just one and all the cases are unrelated and unconnected which rules out vengeful bitch from the grave, also the unlucky bastards have all been newlyweds, but only the men's bodies have been found, the corpses' brides are all missing persons. The only thing that doesn't match Ariel here is the fact that the bodies have been found cut to pieces with a sharp blade and sealed inside barrels and left to float. The MO is all wrong."

"Right, so we can keep the door open to just about anything else then. Let's find the nearest motel and start setting up, this is gunna be a long term."

"Bout that, Bobby knows someone who is willing to put us up while we are working the case. Apparently some years back he help put her husband's spirit to rest so he called her up when he saw where the case was to see if she knew anything else, she didn't know anything more but she did protest our staying in motel, her words and I quote from Bobby here 'if those boys of yours are gunna be saving our skins, they'll be doin it with a proper roof over their heads and a home cooked meal on the table.' He gave me the address and it's fairly central so we'll be in a good location for investigating this case." Dean supplied

John Winchester grunted in acknowledgement "sounds convenient"

Twisting round back to face his brother dean added "Apparently there's a pretty good Charter school nearby too that you can attend, how's that sound Sammy?"

"It's Sam" came the automatic response from the back seat, before the fourteen year old could stop it from slipping out, he quickly, if not immaturely, clamped his mouth shut and jerked his head back towards the window. Dean sighed, he knew his little brother was still upset about having to change schools again, a sentiment that he himself couldn't understand, after all he had just finished with it and was glad that he no longer had to deal with school work on top of hunting, but Sammy? He loved the stuff and always pitched a fit whenever they had to move on from a place, it had only gotten worse as he hit his teen years. In fact he had spent the entire car ride from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where they had bunked with their family friend Robert Singer for a bit while they recovered from their last case (they thought it was one wendigo, turned out to be two) to Arvada, Colorado where their current case was, sulking. He had eaten only after his father ordered him to, and refused to talk the entire time. Hopefully he would grow out of it soon, glancing to the back seat again, Dean realized he probably wouldn't get that lucky. He shifted his attention to his father and quickly rattled off the address as well as the rough directions there from where they were. His father nodded tersely and readjusted the mirror, some tension returning to his shoulders at the sound of his youngest son's voice before switching lanes to adjust their course.

As it was, the house turned out to be pretty nearby and before they knew it they were parked on the gently sloping driveway decorated by cracks that led to a red brick house with a towering grand oak tree that seemed to stand guard before the home like a silent sentinel, the vibrant green of the leaves creating a sharp contrast with the dark bark of its trunk and branches. A neat green lawn bordered by juniper bushes and an old weather beaten farm fence while a blue spruce stood opposite of the oak in the yard across the driveway with a carefully tended rose garden lining the walkway from the driveway to the porch, in the corner of the yard farthest from the driveway an old apple tree laden with unripe apples. The black impala pulled up into the driveway before the engine was cut and the successive slamming of car doors echoed through the quiet neighborhood as they all piled out of the car grateful for the chance to stretch after long hours on the road.

"Ya'll must be the Winchester boys that Robert spoke to me about. I'm Peggy Rodgers, but you can call me Grandma Peggy or Peggy if that's too childish for you, the Grandma is a newer addition from the young gal across the street, she helps me with my yard." A soft south drawl came from the brick walled atrium to the house. An elderly woman stood there stooped with age, short, curly hair that had once been dark now silver with age, her face was marked by laugh lines and a rosy hue on her cheeks gave a youthful light to her pale, elderly features.

"Now c'mon over here with the silver knife o' yours pokin' outa that jacket of yours and the holy water, it would be best for you to test my humanity over here on the porch so that the neighbors don't call the cops on ya, young man." Her blue eyes sparkled.

"I'm John Winchester and these are my boys Dean and Sam." His voice was laced with suspicion as he studied the old woman warily. He strode over to the porch and swiftly gave her a quick, shallow cut across her forearm and handed her the battered flask of holy water that she easily took a swig from.

"Satisfied? Now there is potpie on the table and lemonade in the fridge and I got a salad in the kitchen made from the produce of my garden, so you boys can bring yourselves inside and wash up for supper." She said.

John's lip curled, "Now listen here, my boys don't go anywhere until I've said they can. For all I know your house could be crawling with demons or you could have monsters in your basement. You may be human but that doesn't mean you couldn't be on some fucking bastard's employ. Bobby might have cleared you a few years ago but a lot can change in that time. I have no reason to bring my boys into what is probably a trap. "he snarled

Peggy's hunched back straightened as much as it could and her jaw was set. "Now listen here boy, I don't know what your daddy taught ya, but mine taught me that too many folk have died in the name of liberty to ever give it up if it is in your possession. You weren't even a twinkle in your mamma's eyes when I saw the fires of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or the skeletal refugees of the German swastika; human life is a precious thing, and if ya dare accuse me of bein a traitor to our own species you gunna have somethin' far worse than the monster under the bed to worry about son!"

John glared at her fiercely and she glared right back like a mother scolding her son. After all this was Margret Leeann Carter Rodgers and she did not back down. John backed down and flicked his eyes to the side.

"Now that the testosterone has cleared the air, you boys can come on in. this house is 'bout as safe as Robert's." Her body's poster relaxed as she began to turn back to the house.

"Oh really" John muttered shooting her a resentful glare. She snapped back around in a flash that belied her age.

"I got my sprinklers special rigged to a tank out back so I can switch out the regular water with holy water if need be, there are devil's traps and other forms of protection are painted on behind the wallpaper and under the carpets, I keep hex bags behind the base boards and door posts across the house. this is about as fortified as a suburban home can be." John opened his mouth to interrupt but she carried on with her tirade.

" _And_ you can also have one of your boys check that black rubber tube that's running around my property; it's filled with salt and iron filings, so as long as it's intact that should do the trick." She said calmly pointing to the end of her driveway where the thin line of black was nestled neatly in the crack between the sidewalk and the driveway.

The three males stared at her in shock.

"But if you still feel that's not adequate, feel free to add whatever you want." Catching Sam's stunned but curious look she softened slightly and explained further.

"I'm an Orleans's girl born 'n bred, I was well aware of the supernatural long before my late husband was rockin' in his chair on the back porch for fifteen years after I buried him. Incidentally that also how I met Robert, called in old contacts when my Steve wanted to move on; they sent me his way." She paused a slightly sad but fond look pass across her face before she shook herself and carried on. "Well get your bags and get inside, no use standin' round here like a bunch o' scarecrows, my momma would have my hide if I had you standing out here any longer."

John turned back to his boys "Dean, check the lines, Sam help me get the bags." He barked and the two boys responded immediately to his orders. Grabbing a few bags himself from the impala's trunk he made his way into the house following after Peggy, Sam trailing after him with the rest of the bags on his shoulders.

"Now I only have two guest rooms so if you two boys don't mind sharing one, then your daddy can have the other." She said as she pointed to a short hallway off to her left that connected two bedrooms to each other and the foyer which led to a large cozy living room and in the back a dining room and kitchen and a metal and screen door to the back porch where they could just get a glimpse of a good sized garden with ripening corn and vines laden with ruby red tomatoes. "One guest room is up here, it's the room on the left, the one on the right is my room, the other room is in the basement. The room up here has twin beds which would be good for you two boys, and there's a queen in the basement."

The small family turned to eachother in silent debate before quickly and efficiently separating their belongings and splitting ways, Dean leading the way into his and Sam's new room before selecting the bed on the left, which had the bonus of being closest to the arched windows that led to the front of the house and door to the hallway, while the bed on the right was propped against the walls while being closest to the bathroom suite.

"The gal across the street, her name's Trac, sweet young girl a little younger then you Dean by my reckoning; she stocked up the bathrooms for me; she also cleaned your room in the basement John, it gets harder and harder for me to get down there every year, so she did it for me. Anyways we didn't know if you had any preference for soaps and since her one of her sisters works at a soap shop, she just picked out some stuff and hoped you would like it."

She turned to their father and said "The staircase down is in the middle of the kitchen, and you will need to pass through the first room to the second room and it will be the door on your right. When ya'll are done settling we can eat."

Dinner was a surprisingly cheerful affair with Peggy with her rousing tales of her youth and the bizarre sights she had seen in many travels, she turned out to be quite the character full of everything from the history of the entire block to gardening anecdotes or the tales of Trac who did outrageous stunts but was a rather polite and kind hearted girl who liked to help Peggy around her house and garden. By the time they finally left the table, the sun had long since gone down and Sam had forgotten to sulk at some earlier point during the meal, all of the house's occupants left the table far more satisfied then when they had sat down.


	2. Chapter 2: A differant Kinda Case

**Again, don't own. Will write some far more creative disclaimer when I've slept.**

Chapter 2

The next day, both brothers' were woken up by the sound of voices in the kitchen, more specifically two female voices in place of one.

"— would you be a dear and grab some of my peach preserves from the basement, you know where."

"Sure thing Grandma Peggy"

Dean crept into the dining area cautiously, wary of the new addition to the household, while firmly keeping Sam behind him.

"Oh! Hello there! You must be Dean and Sam! I'm Trac!" A short, dark-haired girl with light skin and blue-green eyes greeted them, she had distinctly Asian features despite her Irish coloring. She gave a quick bow before continuing "It's a pleasure to meet you! Grandma Peggy's been excited about ya'll comin' for weeks now!"

Dean adapted a flirtatious grin, but none of the wariness left him "I'm Dean Winchester and this is my little brother Sam."

"It's okay boys, she's clean. I already checked her."

They jolted, not having noticed their father in the kitchen corner nursing a cup of coffee, a slight look of approval in his eyes at their caution mixed with annoyance that they hadn't been aware of him. The teen in question was holding up her forearm displaying a thin shallow cut and rolled her eyes at them.

"Now I'm gunna run down and get those peach preserves for Grandma Peggy so feel free to gossip all you want." She flashed a lopsided grin and darted down the stairs.

"Does she know..?" Dean began to ask

"That girl's been helpin' me round my house since she was nine. In fact it was because of that Steve saw that he didn't need ta stick round any longer cause I had someone looking out for me. Took three years of watching her help me 'fore he was satisfied that his best girl was being taken care of. So 'course that girl is aware of the supernatural. She would sit on the porch and listen to his stories for hours. I would like to think if our time together hadn't been so short lived the two of us might have had a girl like her ourselves." Peggy said as she bustled about the kitchen. "But she ain't just here to help me today. She's here to help you. That girl is a like a mountain goat she knows a vast majority of the local portion of the Rockies like the back of her hand. Not to mention, she is very good at moving around in the wilderness while dealing with its inhabitants and has a sixth sense for the mountain weather. If you're gunna be poking around for a creature then she's the one to help ya. Of the three murders thus far only one of them is in the middle of a suburb, the other two places, while certainly not secluded they are a bit of a wild zone. But that doesn't say much as even here in the middle of a suburb I find mountain lion tracks in my garden on occasion and we got a pack of coyotes nearby. School starts soon so now's your best time to take advantage of her."

"Three? I thought there were only two murders thus far." Sam interrupted.

"That was the case till last night" Trac's voice drifted up the stairwell as she returned to the kitchen. "My friend has a paper route and so they get the news the night before everyone else does, they gave me a call about it to let me know that the killer was local again. This time the gal was able to phone the police before she was taken but the transcript wasn't released to the papers. Its right next to my brother's best friend's house, there's an area we call the jumps, some sorta wildlife sanctuary that we played airsoft in occasionally. There's a small swamp that the boyscout's found the barrel in when they were earning their litter badge or whatever. "She placed the peach jar on the table before continuing "The first location is less than a mile from here, just up Ralston creek by the police station, the second is Bear Lake which is nearly two hours away. I was up there camping at the time of the second murder and it was that that tipped me off that something was wrong with these deaths."

By this time Peggy had laid out the breakfast spread of Applewood smoked bacon, fluffy golden scrambled eggs, thick steaming pancakes and juicy brown sausages; she motioned for then to all sit down at the table.

"Explain" John demanded turning his attention to the girl after having loaded a good portion on his plate.

"Well when I heard about the first murder I thought it was horrific but, I didn't put it outside of human capabilities. It was the second murder that tipped me off something was really wrong with it. Like I said, I was camping out at the lake with my brother and a couple of friends. I woke up late in the night, no idea what time but I couldn't figure out why until the next morning. It was completely silent, I mean the people were still chatting and playing and making noise but the wildlife was completely silent, in fact, I didn't see any wildlife at all, and we were next to a lake; so in the early morning, we should have been eaten alive by mosquitoes, but I didn't see a single one. I didn't find out about the second murder till I got back to town and the fact the animals had been so silent was bothering me, so out of curiosity I went down to where the first body had been found and it was silent there too, even though it had been a month. My dog, Tara, the mellowest, laziest dog I've ever met; got super upset and agitated, she started barking and growling at me, and wasn't herself till we were out of the vicinity."

"So you two called Bobby because of a couple of animals?" Dean drawled

Trac's eyes filled with fire and her jaw took on a stubborn set; "I've lived here my entire life. I have spent an awful lot of my childhood swimming in Ralston creek, digging clay and diving for clams in Bear Lake, and for the Jumps? I know every branch on every tree, I know which rocks are stable and which aren't, I know where the dry land is in the marsh, and Wonderboy, I bloody well know when something is not right! It's one thing for the animals to go quiet for a few minutes, a totally different thing for them to go quiet for _a few months!_ The first thing I was ever taught about being alone in even a slightly wild area is that you _always pay attention to the animals_ , cuz they got better senses then you so if something is wrong with the animals, you get the _hell_ outa there! 'Scuse my language Grandma Peggy."

"None needed dear" Peggy said calmly

"And besides" Trac carried on, slightly calmer if no less indignant, "If that ain't weird enough for you then how about this? Ralston creek? The area the body was found is right next to a police station, granted there is a park between the creek and the Police station but still; no witnesses? And Bear Lake? It's a popular camping ground and it's summer so lots of folks are camping. Why didn't anyone see or hear a thing? I mean I noticed the animals go quiet but I didn't _hear_ anything that stood out and I didn't see anything, it's not like I was inside the tent. I was sleeping outside. The barrel was found in the portion of the lake that is cordoned off for swimming and therefore right on the beach where the campers are."

"She's right Dean. That is definitely up our alley. I'll give Bobby a call and pass this onto him before I head to the station and see if I can't get a transcript of that phone call." John cut in. "Trac, you show Dean and Sam where the bodies were found the first two times." John made to get up and leave.

"But none of you are going anywhere until you have all eaten a good, full breakfast." Peggy said firmly giving John a pointed look. Slowly he sat back down and started eating once more.

"I've been meaning to ask you Peggy, how did you manage to rig the sprinklers to spray holy water?" Sam asked after a few moments of silence. It was a point he had been wondering about since the night before.

"Oh, well when my husband started hauntin' me, I had to come clean and 'splain the supernatural ta him. T'was the funniest thing ever, he didn't know what was goin on and was actin like a puppy left in the rain tryin' ta figure out what happened! Worst lingerin' spirit in the world! Didn't even know how ta haunt properly!" she laughed her eyes clouded in memory. "Anyways, business as usual, my Steve got all in a huff worryin' that I wasn't safe, pestered me get the house protected. It was a long haul over the years, but my Steve was an engineer, a right good one too! Taught up at that School of Mines and even though he's dead and gone he's still taking care o' me, never had to work a day. As I was saying, he didn't think the usual was enough and was back rocking on that chair of his on the porch when he got that idea up in his head, took him weeks of planning, made young Trac here draw the plans out for him until he was satisfied, then he instructed the two o' us on how to do it and we got it done."

"I noticed your door knobs were all silver." John added.

"And the locks are iron. It was Trac's idea." Things went silent again before Dean addressed Trac.

"So when do we leave?

Trac had managed to commandeer Steve's old '62 Chevy Bel Air with its sleek, polished dark steel color, with Peggy's blessing, from where it resided in the garage. Despite its years it was easy for a car buff like Dean to see that it was a well-cared for machine. He whistled as he ran a hand across the spotless hood.

"She's a beauty." He said, more than slightly impressed. Trac smiled.

"Custom 2 door bubble top, she was Steve's pride and joy and the one thing that Grandma Peggy refuses help to maintain. She ain't much for cars but you would think she was an expert from how she cares for this one."

They all piled in, Trac as the driver, Dean in the passenger and Sam in the back. The key slid smoothly into its slot and soon the smooth purr of the engine cut through the air. Dean's eyebrows jumped.

"That is one damn fine engine you have there."

"Oh, and you don't even know the half of it, just wait to see if Grandma Peggy lets you under her hood, it's bloody gorgeous."

"How hot?"

"Smoking"

Sam cut in before the two of them could take it any further in front of his innocent eyes.

"So which location are we going to first?" Their dad had taken off as soon a breakfast was over and Peggy had pressed them into cleaning service before letting the three teens go.

"Well I thought we should hit Bear Lake first so we will have plenty of time before it gets dark, and then Ralston creek on the way back because it's so close we could walk if we wanted. But first we have a very important stop to make before we head anywhere else."

A few minutes later, they pulled up to a neat and pristine red brick building with a blue rimmed sign out front stating:

 _Clara Brown Academy Charter School:_

 _Home of the Wolf Pack_

 _School starts September 1st_

 _Registration closed for this fall for grades Pre-K—8th_

The stylized image of a wolf was painted primly beside the words. Trac parked the car easily before turning in her seat to face Sam.

"When Bobby saw where he was sending ya, he called me and asked me to see if I couldn't get you into a school, cuz he knows how much you like it. This is where I attended middle school and since we're friends with the headmaster I was able to get him to add you to the registration detail. Told him that your dad was a busy man and asked if your brother could sign off for you and he gave an all clear providing Wonder Boy here is over 18, so you're in the clear buddy. This is one of the best schools in the state and I'm not just biased, as a highschooler, I'm still relying on the knowledge and handouts that I learned in middle school and I'm a senior. Furthermore, the teachers here are awesome and as someone who's never stayed at a school longer than two years, the kids are pretty damn decent." She gave him a big grin. "Raise a little hell in the science lab and Mr. Myeloma will have your back in anything! Anyways we're just here to fill out the paper work, but school starts soon for you."

Sam felt a grin spread across his face. He knew that John would have put off registering him in a school till the last possible second before social services came knocking and by that point the school year would be well underway and it would be harder to catch up. Looks like this time he was getting a head-start. He jumped out the car and ran across the car lanes and to the stairs that led to the office doors before impatiently glaring at the other teens who had just exited the car.

Dean turned to Trac. "Thank you"

"Sure thing."

The pair took their time to stroll over to where Sam was waiting, more to annoy him than it actually taking that long to reach him before they went up the stairs and entered the office.

"Hello Mrs. Rosencrantz!" Trac sang out as they breezed in, "You haven't been too bored without me around, have you?"

The older woman smiled from behind the desk smiled "No, just significantly less likely to have a heart attack dear."

"Whatever do you mean?" Trac had a sly grin on her face.

"I mean that the number of traumatized students and staff dropped immensely after the discovery of the recorder that was hidden behind a false tile in the bathrooms that had been playing whispering voices that were rigged to restart every time a toilet flushed sweetie."

"Really?! I would love to shake hands with whomever came up with that! Unknown prankster, I salute thee!" she finished with a mock salute.

The woman at the desk rolled her eyes before opening a drawer and pulling out what appeared to be a cassette player that was swamped with a series of wires and other odd ends before handing it to Trac.

"Of course you would dearie."

Trac accepted the device with a smile. "Habeas Corpus, My good lady"

The receptionist laughed before straightening her glasses.

"Now what brings you here today?"

"The registration paperwork for Sam Winchester, I talked it over with Headmaster Byron."

"Oh yes, here it is!" she turned to Sam, "Would I be wrong in presuming that you would be our surprise student?"

Sam smiled shyly and shook the proffered hand. "Sam Winchester"

She smiled kindly in return. "Emily Rosencrantz, It's a pleasure to have you attending our school Mr. Winchester."

She reached over to the pile of paperwork on her desk and removed the packet on top and handed it over to him.

"There are some chairs over there where you and your brother can fill this out while I catch up with our alumni here and see what other troubles she can neither confirm nor deny." Sam smiled as Dean placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him to the aforementioned chairs. He could hear Trac's voice rambling in the background, her speech broken by laughter, as he took a look at the paperwork.

 _Please write the names of the schools attended to date:_

This was going to be a long morning.

After their business had been attended to at Clara Brown, or as Trac called it; Clara B. they headed out to Bear Lake with a brief stop for lunch on the way. With ACDC blaring through the radio, they sped down the mountain roads, eating distance in the summer sun.

 **(this next part will probaby be entirely rewritten at some point soon)**

Time seemed to fly and before they knew it they had arrived at their destination. The muted sound of the water lapping at the sand and the slight breeze that ruffled the lake's surface were the only things that moved, let alone signs of life. Just as Trac described, there were no insects buzzing, or birds calling, no glints of fish beneath the water's murky surface; even people had abandoned the beach with its reddish sands true to the state's name.

"I've never seen it this empty before, even in the winter there were hikers or bird watchers or even photographers about." Trac's voice broke the silence that surrounded them.

She paused and stared hard at a point on the beach for a moment, then she muttered, "Well I'll be damned."

She broke into a run carefully maneuvering across the sands as not to disturb the previous impressions. The brothers followed after her, careful to follow her jagged path. Dean caught up to her first.

"What is it?" She was crouched beside a human sized indent where the bottom of it was a spade of ace outlined in pebbles and shells.

"This is where I was sleeping that night, I would have been sure the police would have screwed this whole place over seeing how the body was found practically right here!" She took hold of a shoulder on each brother before whirling them around to face the lake. "See that line of line of bobbers in the water all tied together making an arc around this beach? That's the swimming line, no one is allowed to swim outside that rope. The barrel was found inside its perimeter, the police should have destroyed this area looking for evidence but they didn't, meaning that we still have a chance to find stuff here." The hand on Sam's shoulder had been dislodged so she could point out the bobbing line that stretched across the water, but the hand on dean had stayed present the entire time. Her eyes sparkled with excitement in the afternoon sun as they met Dean's before the moment was broken by the ring of a Nokia phone that the Asian girl quickly extracted from the pocket on her cargo pants.

"Hello?" she frowned before handing it to Dean "It's for you, it's your dad."

"Dad? What's up?"

"Dean, are you at the lake yet?" John's voice was filled with urgency.

"Yes sir."

"Good, this is very important, are there any signs of a horse."

"A horse? Dad, what the hell is going on?"

"In the background of the phone call, there's the sound of a horse right before the woman is taken away. Is there any horse tracks?"

"We just got here dad. But we'll take a look."

"Good." the line disconnected.

"Hey Trac, what do you know about horses being around here."

" _Aww hell,_ Wonderboy, there are farms and ranches fucking surrounding this area not to mention the people who trailer their horses up for a ride, if we're looking for a specific horse tracks we're damn sunk."

A dusty car pulled up to the quaint home before its equally dusty and certainly far smellier occupants climbed out and stumbled up to the front door and entered.

"Well, did you find anything?" John demanded the instant they entered.

"Supernatural horses? You're out of luck. If there was anything there that we could have found in the first place, it's indistinguishable from the rest of the horse crap out there, believe me, Trac checked. As for supernatural in general, the EMF readings went off the scale on the lake, but there has also been multiple drownings there over the years so it might not be from our musical mermaid gone wrong. As for the first location, well that one has been trashed up so while horses are rare there, any evidence is long gone."

John sat down heavily on the sofa. "It's definitely supernatural, but I haven't got a damn on what it is."

"And none of ya'll are sitting at my table until the three of you have showered. Trac darling, you take my bathroom, Dean you use the one attached to yours and Sam's room and Sam can use the one in the basement by John's room." Peggy's voice cut in from where she stood with her hands on her hips in the kitchen entry.

"Yes Ma'am." The three replied in unison before heading their separate ways.


	3. Chapter 3: A differant Kinda School

**Gabriel would be alive.**

Chapter 3

The remaining days of summer seemed to fly by for Sam, filled with a flurry of researching for the case and getting ready for the upcoming school year, where it seemed he was guaranteed at least a whole semester, and maybe if he was lucky an entire year. John Winchester had been less than pleased to learn that Sam had already registered without his knowledge (hadn't that been a sight to see) but with a few well-placed words from Peggy and a call from Bobby, things smoothed over. His placement testing had not only placed him in the 8th grade honors classes but he had also been informed that should he choose, the school offered for him to do extra studies in the subjects of his choice with help from the teachers if the classes weren't challenging enough for him. Trac and Dean had made another detour during a trip for the case to buy him school supplies, which Trac insisted on paying for saying that out of the three of them she was the only one who had a job that actually paid her and left it at that. On the case's front, nothing new had turned up but there had also been no other murders so while waiting for new information the Winchesters had begun doing other smaller cases in the area, as it turns out, Sam's new school had once been a graveyard that was built on top of and though the original building had been a church, the three hunters had their work cut out for them. Trac had also taken Sam and Dean on a sightseeing trip through the colorful state and had shown them a few of the caves that she regularly explored. But the summer days had come to an end and it was once more time for studies and wistful looks out the window of a classroom and freedom it presented just out of reach.

"You're gunna be great Sam, just mention me to the teachers when they ask about how you heard about the school and they will take to you right away. " Trac said seeing the nervous poster of the tall boy next to her. He cracked a weak smile.

She sighed. "You have science first, Mr. Myeloma is amazing you'll see."

"Go get 'em nerd." Dean grinned.

"Jerk"

"Bitch"

Sam smiled again before walking away from them and over to the Middle school building that stood separate and perpendicular to the main buildings, separated by the playground and black top. Trac had explained that the building was added as the school expanded so it was much newer and nicer than the old building.

There was already a crowd of kids who were catching up about their summer vacations while waiting for the doors to open. Luckily for Sam, the TA was already opening the doors of the school so he was able to avoid socializing straight off the bat, but then he was faced with a very different problem. He didn't know where the science room was. Approaching a group of blonde girls who looked about his age he spoke up:

"S'cuse me, my name is Sam, Sam Winchester and I'm a new eighth grader and I was wondering if you could direct me to the science room…?" He shifted awkwardly as one of the girls stepped turned slightly towards him, her eyes perusing his form in predatory manner.

"You must be in the honors classes," she tugged on her carefully glossed lip with her teeth as she looked at him through her eyelashes. "I'm Samantha, and it looks like you're in the same class as me and my friends." Here she was interrupted by her friends giggling. "I would _love_ to show you where the science lab is Sammy." Sam felt his face start to turn hot as she puffed her chest out in an attempt to make her barely there assets appear more noticeable.

"It's Sam, not Sammy." He muttered

"I like that… Saaam" she rolled his name around her mouth and batted her eyelashes at him once more.

Sam slowly began to edge away from her

"You know, I just realized I have no idea where my locker is, I think I'll go find that and then figure it out from there so I'll see you around." The words were barely spaced out to make themselves understandable as he tried to politely excuse himself and get away from the Aryan-esque group of blue eyed blondes that were all looking him up and down.

"You will most certainly be seeing us around Sam, see you in class, and if you need any… help… just let us know." she replied in breathy voice as she leered after him.

The youngest Winchester fairly fled down the hallway nearly knocking a raven haired girl down in his hurry. He muttered an apology before he realized that the only difference between before and after that conversation was that he was significantly creeped out. He pulled out the paper that the office had given him days earlier and nearly slapped himself when upon opening them, the page was a map of the school with his locker number and combo written on it in pen.

 _Locker number: 212_

 _Combination: 11-28-30_

Well, there were some perks to being the tallest kid in the school, even with the hellish stampede of students it shouldn't be too hard to locate his…. Bottom locker. Sure enough, odd numbers were on the top and evens on the bottom. Well, wasn't this a fantastic start to the school year. He began to run his eyes across the numbers he could see: _201, 203, 205, 207…_ there! _213!_ Following their set up, he reasoned that his locker would be located beneath it. With a grimace he crouched done and started plugging in the combination.

"I'm sorry, to bother you but I think have the locker above you." A timid voice with an Eastern European lithe to it interrupted Sam's actions. He turned to face the speaker only to be confronted with the girl he had nearly bowled over no more than a few minutes ago, her hands firmly clutching the top of her bag as she shuffled her feet nervously, glancing everywhere but his face.

"Oh, yeah, sure… sorry about early again." His cheeks began to heat up a little at the reminder of he's previous encounter with the indigenous students.

"N-not a problem, those girls were kinda weird. I-I'm Natasha by the way, Natasha Chernyyina." She stuttered slightly

"Sam Winchester, it's nice to meet you." He responded automatically with a polite smile.

She glanced at his position on the floor as the kid beside him jostled his awkward frame.

"I-if you want we could switch lockers, I'm really short anyways and since you're taller it might be easier…" she saw him glancing at his paper. "We could switch locks too and tell the office later… But only if you want to! If your fine were you are we don't have to, I just thought since your taller—."

Sam cut her off "Your new here too aren't you?"

"That obvious? Yeah this is my first year here." She blushed.

"The locker thing sounds great if you really don't mind." She brightened instantly before bouncing forward and removing her lock and opening the empty locker wide for him. He gratefully stood up and stretched his frame only then realizing how much shorter Natasha was to him. She stood at a height of barely four feet to his total of five feet six inches, with loose inky curls that contrasted her pale skin and golden eyes.

"Where's your accent from?" He blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Originally Russia, I've moved around since then, but the accent stayed." A small shy blush stained her cheeks.

"That's cool I've moved around too." The first real smile all morning began to work its way onto his face.

The pair worked on organizing their lockers, as the school provided an half hour to do so on the first day, in a companionable silence until Natasha shut hers with a bang and crawled around Sam's legs before standing up and turning to leave.

"Oh, and Sam, the science lab is behind us." She stated with a small grin that was not unlike Trac's with the hint of mischief it presented.

* * *

Though the bell had already rung, signaling the beginning of classes, the door of the lab had yet to open and judging by the noises of crackling electricity, maniacal laughter, erratically flashing lights, and smoke that had clouded the window on the door without setting off the fire alarm, Sam wasn't so sure he wanted to know why the door wasn't open. Glancing around at his classmates, he noticed none of them seemed extremely worried, but all had slight hints of apprehension in their eyes, except for Natasha of course, her golden eyes were wide and her frame was once more shaking. Their eyes met and Sam gave her a quick reassuring smile which seemed to calm her slightly.

 ** _EeeeeeCKKKKK_**

The door swung open and crazed laughter and organ music poured through the doorway with multicolored smoke creeping closely behind it. Through the doorway he could see the faint silhouette of a man in a lab coat with wild hair, holding a beaker of glowing chemicals while he laughed, the growls of monsters echoing through the room set Sam's hunter instincts off, putting him on high alert.

"Welcome to the Laboratory." The booming voice greeted them as the fog began to dissipate. "I am Mr. Myeloma…" he blinked at them through glasses. "…Annnnd you are the not the sixth grade class."

"The Pixies are last period for you M!" one of the boys in the class called out as he strode into the room and dropped his books on the nearest table.

The man turned to the table that sat at the front of the room and peered at the schedule that sat on top of it.

"It would appear that you are correct Mr. Raine, I seem to have wasted a perfectly good surprise on you and your classmates." He stated in a much quieter voice then before, a disappointed frown across his face.

Still on edge from the scare, Sam began to examine both the teacher and the classroom.

Mr. Myeloma himself was a tall, broad man with wild silver hair that made him appear slightly crazed, adding to the effect of a mad scientist, the lower half of his face was hidden by a beard that matched his hair and large square glasses sat on the edge of his crooked nose while joyous gray eyes danced above rosy cheeks. He wore a dark blue plaid shirt with black dress slacks and a ty-dye lab coat with a pocket protector and old worn military grade combat boots. Despite his jovial appearance, he carried himself like a soldier in a way that reminded Sam of his father.

The room itself had blue and white checkered tiles that contrasted the rest of the school's green carpets along with eight tables each double sided with four chairs per a table. Each table had a different creature a dominate color. The nearest two tables depicted a Red Griffin and a Blue Sea Serpent, the next set with a White Pegasus and a Green Troll, followed by the last with a Purple Fairy and a Black Dragon. The room was surrounded by cabinets with another door in the back. Each cabinet had a color scheme corresponding with the tables. Around the room itself, there was a variety of odd ends and strange objects not unlike Bobby's, but where the grizzled hunter kept amulets, spell-books, and cursed objects across his home; the science lab was covered in various scientific instruments, whirling and bobbing toys, and collectors' items from all the sci-fi that Sam knew and more he didn't recognize. From the Millennium Falcon on top of the cabinet to the starship U.S.S. Enterprise and Battlestar Galactica that hung from clear string from the ceiling, while Daleks were scattered across the room with the complete justice league and Avengers assembled on his desk and the X-men and Guardians of the Galaxy spread out strategically on the edges of the whiteboard whose border was edged in a mix of Klingon, Gallifreyan, and Quenya elvish.

As the rest of the class poured in behind the first, the seats were quickly taken, leaving Sam with two problems. One, he was now the only student standing and his height certainly didn't do him favors now; and two, the only empty seat was at the fairy table that was occupied by the blondes.

He was beginning to resign himself to his fate when a movement from the back of the room caught his eye. Relief flooded his system when he saw it was Natasha motioning him to the empty seat beside her at the dragon table. In fact he was so relieved he didn't see the ugly expression that painted itself on Samantha's face when he brushed by her on the way to the empty seat.

"Now! It appears that we have two new students joining us so if the two of you would be kind enough to share with everyone who you are, where you're from, and how you heard of our school; then we can be on our way with the curriculum this year!" Mr. Myeloma's cheerful voice dragged Sam's attention back to him. "And as my mother taught me; ladies first!"

Natasha stood up and glanced around the class as she wrung her hands nervously.

"M-my name is Natasha Chernyyina. M-my grandmother and I are originally from Russia, but have moved around a lot since then. I was h-h-homeschooled up until now, b-but grandmother said I could go to a r-r-regular school this year if I wanted to and so w-we looked up schools in the area-a and found C-C-Clara Brown Academy..." Her whole body was shaking as she stuttered it out through her thick accent.

"Thank you Ms. Chernyyina, welcome to our school." His voice was soft as he gave her what was probably a reassuring smile hidden by his mustache and beard, before turning to Sam. "And you sir?"

Sam waited for the black haired girl while she fumbled with her chair in her rush to get back into her seat before he stood up, hunching down to hide his height.

"Young man, straighten up right now." Mr. Myeloma said sharply.

"Wha—." The teen began

"You're slouching because your height sticks out from everyone else. Don't lessen yourself on the account of others. Straighten up." There was a fierce look in his eyes.

Sam straightened up.

"My name is Sam Winchester. I've moved around a lot too, due to my dad's job, and uh, I was recommended coming to Clara Brown Academy by Trac Linh."

The professor threw his head back and laughed, his previous sternness having melted away. "Tell that little trickster that she needs to come back! Things have been far too docile without her around here! What she did to the bathrooms was inspired!"

Sam felt the smile begin to creep its way up onto his face. "She says that until there is evidence she didn't do it."

"She's as sly as a fox, that one." The scientist chuckled. "And creative too, she did the art on these tables."

"Really?"

"Yes, she would come in and ask me about various scientific theories when she had the time, couldn't sit still though so one day he brought in her paints and well, you can all see the outcome of that." He swept his hands out motioning to the tables. Continuing the motion of his gesture, he bought his hands together with a clap.

"As we were! I am Mr. Myeloma, though many call me M, I was raised here in the Rocky Mountains, and after I… quit… my first job, I did a few odd ends in different places before I decided that I wanted to help future generations do better than mine did and picked up teaching. Clara Brown was the best place I could find for that. Now! On to the registrar!"

* * *

By the end of the day, Sam realized that this was the most eccentric school he had ever attended.

Besides Mr. Myeloma, who apparently _really_ liked to make things go boom. There was also the identical twin teachers who both taught English, Mr. Parker F and Mr. Parker G, and they dressed identically so no one could tell them apart. The math teacher Ms. Bradford who had a certificate on her wall for alligator wrestling, a feat that was hard to imagine based off the mocha skinned teacher's willowy frame. The history professor Mr. Williams who walked into class dressed as a Roman Centurion yelling in Latin. Mrs. Zuria was startlingly similar to Peggy in her no-nonsense personality, but outwardly the tall strongly built French teacher was aged regally, like a lady of old, a sharp contrast to Peggy's gentle, if deceptive, appearance; she seemed to reign over the school, a single look from her was enough to get anyone to settle down. The final teacher was the art teacher, a man whom Sam was more than partially certain was higher than a kite on a breezy day; but when he had asked the boy from earlier, Michael Raines, he simply looked and Sam and rolled his eyes saying "He's from Boulder." As if that had explained everything. The Winchester had resolved to ask Trac to elaborate on that when he next saw her.

The other thing the fourteen year old realized was that he had somehow managed to make a friend on his first day as Natasha had continued to stick to him like a shadow, and he really couldn't find a problem with that. Especially when he began to hear her smart-ass the teachers in a whisper from her desk next to his. None the less he was glad that the first day was over, because as much as he loved learning and school, it went without saying that the first day was always the worst.

A smile broke out across his face when he spotted Dean and Trac leaning up against the gun smoke gray Bel Air that glinted in the sun as Trac waved at him, a maniac grin on her face while Dean smirked cocking an eyebrow in Sam's direction before looking pointedly at… Samantha. The girl was leering at him from where she was trying to lean against the school building seductively… until Natasha may have slightly less than accidently knocked her over as she made her way towards the main school.

 _Definitely not an accident _

Sam thought as the short girl turned her head to him just enough to see her wink. With a brief wave of gratitude to her, he made his way to the car.

"So who's that clever girl that did a take down on what appears to be the Blonde Hyenas part II?"

"Blonde Hyena—do you mean Samantha? That's a surprisingly apt name for her and her group based off my experience with them today… Anyways the girl who knocked her down is a new kid too, her name is Natasha.

"I had the pleasure of attending this school with her older sister and her identical posse… The name was deemed accurate and completely applicable to the Queen Bitch of the school."

"How did you deal with them?"

A wolfish grin spread across her face.

"Let's say that they shouldn't have tried to compete with the master."

They were half way home before Dean turned around in the passenger seat to face Sam and smirked.

"So wait, the queen bitch at your school is named Samantha? I always knew I was onto something!"

"Shut up jerk."

 **A/N:Sorry about the original post! I didn't realzed that had happened!**


End file.
